Square One
by Zextillion
Summary: A new adventurer and forgotten goddess arrive at "The Center of the World," the dungeon city Orario hoping to strike it rich. Impatient, but not reckless, this new Familia takes a shortcut to the depths of the Dungeon by fighting dirty.
1. Chapter 1 - Square One

**AN Before you begin:**

**If I get anything wrong with the Danmachi universe or lore, please tell me! I'll try to keep things as accurate as possible.**

**I'll try to keep each chapter self-contained so I won't feel bad if I accidentally end up not updating this in years.**

**Any ideas for an actual story are welcome! I'm practicing writing and don't have a clear idea for the main plot, so I'll consider any ideas you guys have.**

**The start of this story is around the start of Volume 6 or the start of Season 2, although I'll try to keep main series involvement to a minimum to prevent messing with canon too much. I'll expect things are gonna get crazier as I update the story though.**

**That's it! Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 1

Square One

* * *

Underdog stories are wonderful. Everybody can relate to a good underdog story because everybody was the underdog at one point. There's something magical about being able to overcome against all odds and expectations and coming out stronger and more popular. Starting from square one, watching the hero build-up his strength, the final pay-off at the end; the format of an underdog story is great!

That's where an underdog story should stay. A story. Living one out in real life is far less entertaining, inspiring, heroic, whatever you want to call it.

I used to think an underdog story was wonderful. Not anymore. I guess I should retract my statement that underdog stories are wonderful. I'm that hero starting from square one. Being the underdog is nothing like the stories. Well, maybe it is. For example, your typical underdog hero has to deal with all manners of obstacles physical, mental, legal, and so on. I have to do all of that too. Living the fantasy is a lot different from reading the fantasy.

* * *

"Uuuuaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

I always knew I was going to make a few mistakes here and there. I've always made them, and I always will. That is part of being a mortal.

This is probably my biggest one. I'm not talking about how I'm currently being chased down by three goblins in a dimly lit cave, although that is certainly a big mistake. My mistake was believing in the power of the human spirit. With enough perseverance and courage, any experience will make you stronger.

That mistake led me here, to the center of the world. Here at the center of the world, all eyes are on me, and all eyes are looking for every careless mistake I make. Here at the center, each mistake has the potential to be your last.

That sounds good right? If you can't make any mistakes, you are perfect. The problem with that is that a perfect mortal doesn't exist. A perfect mortal is a dead mortal. And being a perfect mortal is certainly not on my agenda today. My name is Rei Ribey. I am not a perfect mortal. I'm just some country girl looking for fame and money at the center of the world. I'm quite unassuming: shoulder-length hair dyed red, and my face is only as cute as any other stupid city girl here. I'm not rich enough to afford sturdy armor or fancy clothes, so I'm stuck in bland brown clothing, a gift from my mom and proof my lack of material wealth.

Is this a dead end?

I throw off my backpack and reach for the branch lodged in between my back and the bag. With my left hand, I feel down my left leg and under my skirt, making sure the guild-issued knife was still there.

In hindsight, it was an absolutely terrible idea to pawn off my sword. Actually, I suppose even without hindsight, it was a terrible idea to pawn off the only weapon I had when my only source of income was fighting monsters. I should have been a supporter.

The goblins have caught up to me now. They slow down, as if assessing their next move. One of them suddenly lunges towards me.

Both hands gripping my branch, I move to a guard position. The goblin closes in fast and takes a swipe at me with its claws. I quickly move my arms, swiping the air, then the goblin's arm, with my branch. The goblin snarls and charges me again. I quickly move my arms back, sending the branch straight into its head.

Now dazed and unable to defend itself, I swing at the goblin. The branch connects and I feel a thud throughout my body. A sense of victory washes over me, only to be replaced with dread as I look at my branch, now about half as long. I quickly reach for my backup knife.

Crap. Looks like I'm gonna have to get up close and personal with these goblins.

The one I just hit stands right back up, as if nothing happened. The other two goblins are probably a lot more confident now that my weapon just broke. They slowly encroach on me, forcing my back against the wall.

I have a few options.

I can accept my fate and die right here. Not a big fan.

I can fight them with my knife. A few problems with that. A knife doesn't have a lot of reach, so defending against attacks is hard and attacking is risky. Only an idiot would consider fighting monsters with knives!

I can choose not to accept my fate and die anyways. Argh!

This is stupid! How could I be so dumb! A dinky little knife is better than no weapon at all, but I'd rather not have to fight with a weapon with so little reach.

Unless…

This is stupid. Why am I going to do this?

I bend my knees and switch my knife to my right hand. I pull back my arm, and then swing it forwards, releasing my grip as I do so. The knife's blade flies straight into one of the goblin's chests.

_Clang!_

The sound of metal on crystal. I managed to strike the magic stone inside the goblin's chest. Bullseye. When a monster's magic stone gets damaged, the monster disappears.

The goblin curls over in pain and then vaporizes. One goblin down. I'll admit, I wasn't expecting to hit its magic crystal, but I'll take it. An opening in the front has been exposed, and I dash out of there as quickly as I can.

I didn't even have time to grab the bag on my way out of the room. The only thing on my mind right now is to run, run, run!

Sometimes I wish I was like a princess in one of the stories I used to love as a kid. Waiting around in a dangerous castle, waiting for your hero to sweep you off your feet. Sure I might be a princess, or at least I tell myself that, but I have to be my own damn hero too! Nobody's gonna save me down here. Unless someone does?

I can't think about this stuff right now. I have no weapons, no armor, and two goblins are hot on my tail. This is embarrassing. How would another adventurer react if they saw my sorry ass?

I wonder how strong goblins really are. I bet other adventurers would be laughing at how scared I am of two goblins.

Maybe I should consider doing one of those… things. What were they called? My supervisor told me that I could pass off monsters onto other adventurers if I ran across them. A quick and dirty way to get monsters off your back, at the expense of the good will of the people you just siced them on. I would love to do that, but I haven't seen any other adventurers!

Huh? I see stairs going up. Oh. This must be the entrance. I hear the sounds of goblins scampering behind me. No thanks. I'm not dealing with them if I don't have to. I quickly rush up the stairs.

* * *

"No heroes coming to save me today I guess."

I sigh, looking at all the adventurers decked out in imposing armor inside the guild. Not a single one of them went and tried to rescue me.

"Rei."

My name. I look at the receptionist desk to see who said it. A young-looking werewolf in glasses with orange hair is looking directly at me is standing behind it.

Immediately, comforting thoughts enter my mind.

_Eheheheh, so cute!_ I think, imagining him as a puppy.

"Coming~"

We entered a small room off the lobby of the Guild headquarters. It's soundproofed, so nobody outside can listen in on whatever private conversation that I have with my adventuring adviser, Fisk.

"So how was your day today?"

I beam at him, trying to make myself seem friendly. Some casual small talk before the real conversation comes up should soften his cold demeanor.

"Good. How was your first day in The Dungeon?"

He pushes up his glasses by the nose, calmly answering the question in a straightforward manner. My attempt at making casual conversation failed spectacularly. I sigh and my smile drops a little.

"It was fun! I managed to kill a goblin today!"

"Really now? Well that's good to hear."

He maintains his stoic expression as he says those affirmative words. Behind those lenses, his eyes scan over the room behind me.

"I've noticed you didn't bring anything back from your dungeon run."

I try to pretend that I didn't lose all of my items back inside the Dungeon on the second floor.

"Am I supposed to bring my stuff when I visit the Guild?"

"Well, you don't have to bring your equipment, but adventurers do bring the magic stones they pick up in the Dungeon to convert into valis. Sometimes they'll bring drop items so that we can appraise them too."

I break eye contact and look away.

"Oh. Haha. I'll make sure to remember next time. I'll bring over the magic stones I got tomorrow."

Technically the truth. I'm planning on coming back tomorrow with my magic stones. Of which, I have none. Fisk's eyes squint slightly.

"Okay. I see what's going on. Did you drop all your items back in the Dungeon?"

I start pouting.

"Maybe. Yes."

He sighs.

"Can't be helped. The Dungeon is a dangerous place after all. So what happened? Did you get ambushed by a lot of monsters?"

"Yes."

"What floor? You can go into detail about your encounter."

"The second floor. I was mining some magic stones when three goblins snuck up behind me."

Fisk raises a questioning eyebrow.

"Three goblins?"

I nod and confirm his question.

"Yes. Three. I panicked okay? They were right in my face when I turned around and noticed them."

I can tell that Fisk is getting disappointed with me, judging by the short pause between my statement and his next.

"Look, I actually really like how you prioritize safety by running away from monsters instead of acting like a hero. But in your situation, I believe it was a bad decision to leave your items in the Dungeon. In fact, I'd say never do that again. Aren't you on a tight budget already?"

I told Fisk about my Familia's financial situation during our first meeting. Basically, my Goddess and I arrived here in Orario with what seemed like a lot of money, but actually wasn't when compared to prices here. We ran out of money very quickly and can only afford two more nights at the inn we are staying at.

Knowing how I basically have no expendable cash, I tell him about my equipment shortage as well.

"Well that certainly is a problem."

"Mm hm."

"Normally, I would suggest buying a cheap weapon, but you're a longsword user, right?"

My goto weapon of choice is the longsword. I don't necessarily have experience with actual longswords though. I came here with practice wooden longsword that we ended up having to sell to buy food for a day.

"Yeah. I know, longswords are expensive."

He sighs.

"The lower-end ones are actually quite affordable. But given your situation, I suspect you don't have the money to even successfully haggle your way to one. You would have to beg other adventurers or smiths to lend you a spare. Which I doubt anyone will do."

"How much is a cheap longsword again?"

"My guess would be around four thousand to five thousand valis. Cheap for a weapon, but a bit out of your budget. I don't think you'd be able to take a loan either, if you're thinking about doing that."

I groan. I'm getting more annoyed by the minute.

"You have any suggestions for me?"

"I'm not going to give you any valis to pay for a longsword if that's what you want to hear. But I would suggest applying as a Supporter to a more experienced party. You'll gain some share of the profit, and you'll gain some more experience probing around the deeper levels."

"Don't I need like a large backpack or something to do that?"

"It would be helpful, yes."

It would be helpful if I didn't drop my backpack back in the Dungeon. Suddenly, I have an idea.

"Do you think my stuff is still in the Dungeon?"

"Don't tell me you're planning on going back in there by yourself."

I smile as I gain a little confidence in my plan.

"You know my status, so you know that my abilities are above a regular newbie's."

"A few bigger numbers doesn't mean you can fight your way down to the second floor without any weapons."

"Well, yeah, but my warm bed is on the line here! Can't you just give me another old Guild knife? I promise to return it! You can count on me and my G rank abilities!"

It's true. All of my abilities are G rank, something unheard of for new adventurers. The full story is that I've had my Falna for years before coming here to Orario, so you could say I had a bit of a head start. Although, the head start is still next-to-nothing considering how slowly my stats have been increasing up until recently. Plus, I don't have any experience fighting actual monsters in an environment like the Dungeon. My stats are a result of purely intense sparring with my Goddess.

Fisk, expression as cold as ever, is likely pondering over the decision to give me another knife. Finally, after a few moments of silence, he answers.

"Very well, but remember that the knife is guild property. If you don't return it, I'm going to be very disappointed."

My eyes light up with this news.

"You won't be disappointed. I promise Mr. Fisk!"

"I should have said instead that I'm not going to advise you if you don't return. If you can't kill a few goblins using a basic weapon, I can't in good conscience consider you an adventurer."

I thought his reasoning for not advising me if I didn't return was that I was going to be dead.

"You would also be dead."

There it is.

"Being dead is not part of my plan, so please don't worry about me."

With these words hanging in the air, I plan out my attack. Operation: Get My Stuff Back From Some Goblins.

As I prepare to leave, Fisk speaks out what's really on his mind.

"As you're probably well aware, an adventurer's status is everything. With your abilities, you should be plowing through the first few floors. Panicking whenever the slightest thing goes wrong is the fastest way to get yourself killed. Keep calm, you have nothing to fear."

* * *

Found my way back to the stairs to Floor Two.

Fisk's last words are really bothering me. I know that I can beat up a few goblins no problem, so freaking out was absolutely stupid of me. I can't help it though! Everything has to go my way! If it doesn't, I'll die, simple as that. Maybe what he was really telling me was to expect the unexpected. Maybe. He keeps going on and on about how the Dungeon will throw curveballs at you from time to time, but the Second Floor isn't all that bad. That was a one time thing, right?

Oh man, maybe the Dungeon's trying to teach me to keep me on my toes. How nice of it.

I reached the bottom. Floor Two.

Damnit, today's a long day.

I'm here once again after only a few hours to recover my lost property. Normally, I would have just accepted my things as lost, but I'm desperate for cash right now. Plus, I have quite a few goodies in my bag that I would like to get back at all costs.

Navigating around the Second Floor is not all that difficult, especially with a torch in hand. It can get quite chilly in the Dungeon, so the warmth from the fire is welcome and can be used as a weapon in a pinch. A downside to using torches is that it takes up one of your hands and can easily attract unwanted attention.

Speaking of unwanted attention, a group of goblins has scampered behind me. I take out my knife with my free hand and face them. This time, I'm prepared.

I take the initiative this time. I start running towards the goblins, waving my torch around. The goblins carefully watch the flame, wary of being burnt. That's my chance. I swing the torch directly down on top of a goblin. It dodges to my right, still in range of my knife. I swing my arm back and forth in quick succession, adding more and more stab wounds to the goblin's chest.

I hear movement to my left. Instinctively, I try to block with whatever's in my hand: the torch. I end up hitting the goblin in the face with the end, and its screams as it gets lit on fire are honestly a little painful. Still, that goblin is a bit too close for comfort, and I instinctively kick it away. It collides with another goblin, and both go down screaming.

I face the remaining goblins. Two remain. Operating purely on instinct, they don't seem to react all that much to the agony for three of their comrades. They both charge at the same time. I step back a bit, because I know I can't deal with two goblins coming from different directions at the same time. I move a bit, ensuring both goblins are on my knife side. Much better.

The closest goblin tries to strike. I strike it with the flat of my blade and send it flying, using strength unfitting for my slim physique, but in line with my abilities. I'm certainly stronger than the average beginner adventurer, and I mentally punch myself for acting like a coward before and sending myself back here on this annoying mission.

The goblin sprawling on the ground, I strike it on the head with my torch. No fire. I do it again. None again. This time, I rest the torch against its body until it lights up. Much better.

The last goblin seems to realize that it's dealing with a flame lord as it looks on its companions. It drops its weapon and starts running.

Like hell I'm going to let it do that! It reminds me of myself a few hours ago, making a mistake that could have cost me my life. I rev up my knife arm to prepare to throw my knife at the fleeing goblin. I swing it forward and expect my knife to hit its mark, as it did a few hours ago. It didn't. It landed a bit behind the goblin.

"Damn."

I'm not angry that I missed, or even scared that I threw away my only real weapon. Just disappointed. I try again with my torch. It barely misses again, landing a few steps in front of the goblin. I chase after the goblin and pick up my knife during my run. The goblin freezes up a bit as it looks at the fire ahead of it.

"Got you!"

I slash it in its back twice. The goblin keels over and immediately disappears, leaving behind its magic stone. I look behind me and the other goblins go through similar fates.

"Well, I'm not gonna forget about it this time."

I try making my way back to my backpack, hoping I won't forget the free money on the ground. I really regret not wearing clothes with pockets in them.

After a few minutes, I find the room where I dropped my stuff. By some miracle, no other adventurer or monster took them. Whether that's because adventurers are nice, or if nobody stumbled across this specific room, or if nobody found any value in the bag, I'm not sure. Any way, I'm happy that all my belongings are still there in that backpack.

Contents: Comfortable sleeping clothes, what was supposed to be my dinner (I'm still quite hungry), and multiple bottles of alcohol.

I smile. How could nobody see the value in a bunch of bottles of hard liquor? To be fair, I did stuff each bottle with dirty alcohol soaked rags. That's right. I accidentally lost a few improvised firebombs when I dropped my backpack a few hours ago. The firebombs should have been the first tool I went for when I got ambushed. But I didn't really have any time to prepare, so I'm not going to beat myself too badly over it.

I clip a few of the bottles onto my belt and put on my backpack. I found my old knife and put it into the empty knife sheath on my leg, haphazardly throwing my temporary knife into my backpack.

Right on cue, a giant group of kobolds appear to block me out of the entrance. I smirk. This time, I'm prepared for an ambush. I unclip one of the cocktails that I put on a few seconds ago.

"You're coming to me! I've always wanted to try these out on live targets!"

I bring my torch to bottle's rag. As soon as the flame gets close to the rag, it ignites.

"I have magic too, you know! Fire Cocktail!"

I hurl the burning drink at the center of the group. The bottle breaks, sending shrapnel into some surrounding kobolds. More impressive, is that every single one is now on fire. I watch as the kobolds scream in agony for what feels like an eternity, waiting for the flames to clear up.

When they finally do, I'm met with what looks like a puddle of magic stones.

"Wow."

I'm honestly amazed at how effective my makeshift magic was. Despite my best efforts, I never developed a skill or magic of my own, so I had to improvise a bit. One day a few months ago, while preparing for my journey to Orario, I discovered that you could light alcohol on fire. From there, the idea grew into my sophisticated firebombs and the carnage that I see before me. My mouth opens up into a smile.

"Hahaha! Looks like I'm getting a new sword!"

Field test complete. I think I'm going to like being an adventurer.

* * *

"Where the hell have you been!?"

"I'm sorry Goddess. My first day in the dungeon was quite the adventure, you know!"

My Goddess, Mineme would for sure be looking down on me if she wasn't so short.

"It's so late! I was worried sick about you! I was fearing the worst you know!"

I pat her short blond hair and try to reassure her.

"Ahaha! Well, I did almost die, so maybe you should be worried."

Maybe the wrong words to reassure her.

"Whaaaaat!? What do you mean you almost died?"

"Yeah, long story. Look, I'm kinda tired, so I'll tell you all about it in the morning. Oh, I also didn't hand in my magic stones yet, but I'll do it first thing in the morning!"

Mineme crosses her arms, obviously disapproving my plan to dodge this late-night conversation by falling asleep.

"Aside from that, the important thing is that you came back to me not dead! I think we should celebrate your first day in the dungeon with a party, yeah?"

"This late?"

"Oh come on. We've spent literal years waiting for this day! I think we deserve it. I at least want to update your status; see how much one run in the dungeon boosts your abilities and all that."

"Can't argue with that."

I take off my shirt and sit cross-legged on my bed, back facing towards Mineme. A Falna is the blessing given by a god to their Familia. Most importantly for adventurers, it lets their deity update their status, which gives direct boosts to their physical capabilities. To update a status, the deity draws out some of their divine blood to write physical updates to the status, typically on the back of a person. Mineme grabs my knife on the table and draws a drop of blood, dropping it onto my back.

My back begins to glow, and Mineme inspects the symbols on my back.

"Oh wow."

"What's up?"

"What did you do in the dungeon? Did you kill any monsters?"

"Oh, I did! I managed to kill a few goblins and kobolds!"

I giggle, fondly remembering my first real kills as an adventurer, including the cocktails.

"Oh, I also managed to use my Fire Cocktails."

"Really? How did that go?"

"Awesome! You should have seen it. It was so cool! I just wish I had a better name for them so it would sound cooler when I scream it. Just imagine, like, super ugly walking dog things, and I throw one of those bottles and they all light on fire!"

"Ha! That sounds cool. I'd love to see that for myself, but rules are rules."

Gods and goddesses are not allowed into the Dungeon. According to the guild, the Dungeon hates them and will do anything in its power to kill them, including summoning high-level monsters. Mineme joining me on a Dungeon run is suicide.

"Yeah. To be honest, I didn't think that we'd be separated like this, you know? We were gonna be together forever, and all that."

"Ah, sometimes life doesn't work out that way. But we can still meet up here outside the Dungeon. That's gotta count for something, right?"

Mineme begins writing on a sheet of paper, giggling as she does so.

"You haven't told me my status yet."

Mineme giggles.

"I think it's best if you see for yourself! Almost done… and there! Check this out!"

After putting my shirt back on, Mineme hands me the paper with my status on it.

**Rei Ribey**

**Level One**

**Power: G-314 → G-315 Endurance: G-302 Dexterity: G-397→ G-399 Agility: G-345 → G-347 Magic: I-0**

**Magic**

**()**

**Skills**

**()**

Finishing reading this, I can't help but smile. I cover my mouth with my left hand.

"Oh wow! I can't believe my abilities went up this much!"

Mineme giggles and beams at me.

"I know! This was after only one day right? I can't believe multiple abilities increased at the same time! Look, your agility and utility went up by two points."

"That's never happened before!"

Now I'm beginning to understand why so many stories of heroes come out of Orario and the Dungeon. The Dungeon is truly a place where the strongest of adventurers are made. Seeing numbers like these, it's hard to argue otherwise. My initial growth would often update only one skill at a time and one point at a time, so seeing three skills increase is such a large improvement is definitely exciting.

"Goddess, do you think I'll be able to level up next year at this rate?"

Mineme's smile gets even bigger.

"Of course!"

I clench one of my fists and pump it into the air.

"Hell yeah! I can't wait! I love Orario!"

In my excitement, I give a bear hug to Mineme.

"Goddess! We're gonna make it!"

"We sure are! You better level up as soon as possible, okay? We'll be swimming in money and friends soon enough!"

"Yes! Friends!"

It's a bit embarrassing to admit, but the reasons why I became an adventurer have nothing to do with being a hero. I want money, friends, and a cute guy to be my Prince Charming. Mineme's goals with setting up the Familia in Orario are much the same.

A few seconds pass. Mineme yawns.

"It's getting pretty late, right?"

"It's already late."

I yawn too.

"Eh, I'll say I deserve a break."

* * *

"Honestly, I thought you died when you didn't show up this morning."

"Glad to prove you wrong!"

I came back to the Guild today to return Fisk's knife and exchange my magic stones for valis. Plus, I ended up sleeping in, so it's a bit too late in the day for an expedition. Fisk is sitting directly across from me on the table inside the usual room in the Guild. As always, he's hiding whatever emotions he's having behind his calm face.

"I didn't expect you to actually go back to collect your items that late in the day. Did the idea of working at a food stand or as a supporter turn you off that much?"

"Well yeah. I didn't come to Orario to not explore the world famous Dungeon as a full-fledged adventurer! Plus there was something that I really had to test out. You wouldn't know about it. Trade secret."

"I am curious about this secret of yours, but I'm at least glad you didn't die doing something stupid like storming off into the Dungeon by yourself like so many other beginner adventurers like yourself. I mean, you did exactly that, but you didn't die, which is the important part."

"Yeah."

A few seconds of awkward silence passes. Thinking of a new topic to talk about, I bring up my status.

"Oh, can I show you my status?"

"Anything you say in here is purely confidential. Go ahead."

"After yesterday, my strength went up by one and and dexterity and agility went up by two points! Is that a good pace?"

Fisk adjusted his glasses before proceeding.

"Well, first of all, being an adventurer here is not a race to the top. It is a marathon, built on years and years of building up and growing stronger. There is no such thing as a good pace, and if you try to rush things, you are only going to get yourself killed. I've seen it happen multiple times, you know."

Fisk said something that really took the wind out of my sails. I'm at the top of the world! Or at least I felt like it. In my excitement, I suppose I was looking at it like a race. I just wanted to level up as fast as possible.

Fisk continued his thoughts.

"As for if it's a good pace, I would say it is. It's about normal for an adventurer to have their basic abilities increase like that after a run through the dungeon."

Another nail in the coffin! That boost yesterday was merely a normal pace!?

"Argh, I thought that was fast."

"Just out of curiosity, were you training on your own before coming here to Orario?"

Fisk asked a question straight to my past. I knew eventually he was going to ask about it. Fortunately, I don't have much to hide.

"Ah, yes. I spent the last couple of years sparring every day with my Goddess. Progress was pretty slow, so I guess seeing my status grow like that after one day was pretty impressive to me."

"The Dungeon is a very different environment from your mock fights with your Goddess, as I'm sure you're well aware of by now. It is much more dangerous, but the risk does result in greater rewards. Your abilities are certainly impressive for a new adventurer, but I must drill it into your head that you shouldn't get ahead of yourself. But, you do have my permission to go down to the Seventh Floor. Only after you're more comfortable fighting, got it?"

I smile at the new opportunities Fisk has given me.

"Got it! Thank you Mr. Fisk!"

Fisk stands up, pushing his chair back. He adjusts his glasses then coughs once.

"Well, if you have no further questions, I'll be going now."

"Mm hmm."

"It's a bit too late to head into the Dungeon for today. Might I suggest reading up on the Upper Floors in the meantime? One of my coworkers would recommend you memorize a textbook on the stuff before going in the Dungeon."

"Sure."

Standing up, I feel the pouch of valis attached to my belt, shaking it around and listening to the jingle it makes; it's music to my ears. As I follow Fisk out of the room, I can't help but think about all the progress I made in one day, and all the progress I'm going to make during my time here in Orario. I try suppressing my smile. I can't say I'm at square one anymore.

**-0-**

* * *

**-0-**

A few minutes later.

Two guild employees, taking advantage of a small window where no adventurer has lined up for assistance, are talking about their day so far.

"So how's your new girl?"

The werewolf he's talking to responds.

"She reminds me of myself. I hate it."

"Gonna get herself killed huh? So, how long do you think she'll last?"

"I'll give her a week."

Before Fisk's coworker can respond, he adds to his original statement.

"No, make that two weeks."

"Wanna bet?"

"Hell no. Now, we could bet on whether your new guy dies first though."

"You saying he's gonna die before your girl?"

"Drinks free for one night at the Hostess of Fertility."

"Oh fine. You're on."

Both advisors start laughing. A few feet away, a female half-elf is exasperated by how her coworkers are treating their adventurer's lives like a game.

"At least they're not intentionally trying to get them killed…"

She looks off in the distance, outside the main entrance to the Guild, towards the skyscraper in the center of the city.

"Just another one of those days."


	2. Chapter 2 - Learning Curve

Chapter Two

Learning Curve

* * *

Status is everything for an adventurer.

My advisor told me that. That honestly ticks me off. Not in the sense that I can't understand why. Of course being able to beat up your problems until they solve themselves is a simple concept to grasp. What pisses me off is how that completely invalidates my plans for the next few months. I thought I was special. I'm not. It's going to take years of dangerous and hard work before I can truly say I've made it!

"Who's got the time for that crap?"

I accidentally blurted that line out. Mineme sits besides me on my bed and reaches up to pat my head. She starts talking, mouth full of half a potato snack, other half still in her hand.

"Awwww, wha ha-en? You wah sho fiyad uh yeshtaday."

I look at the potato snack in my own hand.

"You know. I've just been thinking that maybe being an adventurer is harder than we thought it was."

Mineme swallows the mush in her mouth.

"Hey now, we have a couple valis in savings! Not all's lost!"

"No, a net gain of two hundred valis is nothing!"

I stand up and reach for the longsword that's been haphazardly stood up against a table. I shove the flat of the blade right up against Mineme's face.

"Do you see these cracks and chips on this supposedly 'unbreakable steel' blade? All our money went towards replacing all the crap we sold we away like idiots! For stuff that's way worse!"

Mineme lowers the blade with her free hand, establishing eye contact with me.

"Oh relax. All that crap you went through should be a piece of cake with your new gear. Besides, it's cheap beginner equipment anyways. It's meant to be replaced. Think of them like new training wheels."

"But what if I lose them all again? I won't have the funds for more Cocktails."

"You won't lose them all again. Stop being such a worrywart. I'm working too, you know? You can have all the Cocktails you'll ever want to use as bombs, _or _drugs. I promise!"

She has a point. But I would rather not burden my friend with some cheat and shortcut to my fighting skills. I should be responsible for securing the funds for my equipment, not her!

"By the way, did you come up with a better name for Fire Cocktail?"

Mineme suddenly asked a very interesting question that I had a clear answer to.

"No. I thought I asked you to make a name for them!"

"Uuuuuuu~"

Mineme puckers her lips, looking deep in thought for a few seconds.

"Okay, how about Fire Bomb?"

No. Denied.

"Hell no! Fire Bomb isn't a name for firebombs!" I retort.

"What, and Fire Cocktail is?"

"That's why I'm asking you to come up with a name!"

"Why do you even want a name for them? Isn't Exploding Alcohol descriptive enough already if someone asks about it? I don't see a problem here."

"It has to be catchy! This is my patented magic skill! I _have _to chant its name. That's the rule! It has to be a cool name or I'm gonna feel like an idiot when I shout it in front of my party!"

"Okay, okay, I get it. I'll come up with a cool name. Just give me some time."

A few seconds pass with her not talking. In the meantime, I'm thinking of my own variations, all having something to do with 'Fire'. A bottle of alcohol that I light on fire and throw as a bomb. That actually sounds really impractical the more I think about it. Wouldn't it be more efficient to just use actual fire bombs instead? I haven't found any shop that sells them though…

Mineme suddenly speaks up, breaking the silence.

"Nope, I got nothing. What about you?"

"Nah, same here. Actually I've been thinking, why am I even trying to use these things? They're not as practical as actual bombs, you know."

"Yeah, but, it's like, your unique idea! You came up with this thing on your own, remember? It's a part of who you are! Some expensive bomb some shady person in an alleyway's selling isn't gonna be as reliable as your ol' reliable."

My idea huh? Well, that is true. I can't possibly have been the first person to think of using cheap alcohol as a weapon though.

"That is why-" Mineme continues. "-Why you should embrace them as yours! Keep using them. You'll probably figure out some creative uses for them. I trust that you'll be able to pull it off. Then, when you're more confident in its identity and your own, you'll be able to give a nice sounding name for it!"

…

What? Is she trying to cheer me up? That sounded absolutely ridiculous. I have to point that out, I don't want her saying crap like that again.

"The hell was that speech? You've been rehearsing it?"

"Hey! Don't make fun of my speech! I'm a Goddess! I can say Goddess things too from time to time!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. Still sounds corny as hell though."

Mineme turns her head and from audibly exhales.

"No. I'm serious here. I know what you're capable of, Rei. I know you won't let me down."

All of my bravado vanishes. If anyone else said that, I would have played along by acting like a bigshot. But not to my Goddess. Not to my best friend. All I can do is shamefully put my hand behind my head.

"I hope you're right. I'll try not to."

I walk over to a corner of the room and pick up the backup that I left there. I put both of my arms through its shoulder straps, then take my longsword and fit it in between my back and the bag, using this placement as a makeshift sheath. As a last preparation for the day, I check my left leg for my knife and its sheath. As an extra last preparation, I feel for the longsword on my back and check my knife again. Satisfied, I turn towards Mineme.

"Well, I'm off to the Dungeon now. See you later tonight, Goddess!"

Mineme smiles and nods.

"Have fun. And don't die!"

* * *

I'm here at the Second Floor again. My plan tonight is to really internalize the layout of this floor, knowing all of its nooks and crannies so I don't get ambushed again before I continue on to the next floor. I received permission from my advisor, Fisk, to go as deep as the Seventh Floor, but I'm not interested in going that deep just yet. Slow and steady. Slow and steady. I'll really nail down fighting weak monsters using just the basics before I try using my Cocktails. The cost for a single Cocktail can already run me up at least five hundred valis. Now that I think about it, maybe that's the reason I don't have money.

I take out a map of the Second Floor from my backpack. It should be fairly detailed and in-depth considering that this floor isn't all that far from civilization. Still, better safe than sorry. Besides, the people who made this map might have missed any new corridors or hallways or something. Maybe I could use them to set up traps on other adventurers and steal their stuff. Of course, I would never do that to a fellow adventurer. Unless I would. Just an idea.

Hmm. Looking more closely at the map, I realize that the Second Floor is a lot bigger than I thought a newbie area had any right to be. Tsk, mapping this out for myself might take a while. I suppose for now I might as well hammer home the quickest route between here and the Third Floor.

Okay. I think I have the route down now. Let's try it. I place the map back into my backpack and put it back on me.

I pick up my longsword with one hand and rest it on my shoulder and pick up my torch with another. I'm not stupid. I'm not gonna try and wield a longsword with one arm like I suspect a few high-end adventurers do. But with no safe way to carry around a torch - my lifeline in case I need to use my Cocktails - there's no other option. I considered just dropping it on the floor right next to me whenever I see an enemy, but I think I might run the risk of setting myself on fire. Instead, I'm just gonna chuck this thing at any monsters I see show up. I highly doubt that would do any real damage, but it might freak them out, who knows? That certainly worked last time. Okay, let's get moving.

I start walking along the route I drew for myself. I keep walking. I scan the room around me for any potential danger. Nothing. Good. Less threats for me mean, well, less threats for me.

I walk into a relatively tight corridor. Ah, but something might be following me! Behind!

…

Nothing.

Okay. Maybe I might be a little bit too paranoid. But then again, my life is on the line here! Legitimately on the line. As in, I signed a waiver that my life is on the line so I should always be extra cautious. You can't be too paranoid about stuff like that.

…

…

Okay. I'm definitely too paranoid. I'm taking the fastest route to the Third Floor, so experienced adventurers probably already came through the same exact route I'm taking and clearing all the monsters here. It's not too far from the entrance to the Dungeon too, so it really wouldn't surprise me if that's the reason why nothing has shown up yet. I'm actually kind of disappointed by that. I haven't tested out my new longsword yet.

Thinking something like that, a new enemy group has to pop out of nowhere right now, right? Got to be on guard… No? Okay.

Still moving forward, I think to myself that maybe the Dungeon's just messing with me. I'm on edge right now and loaded as shit, so it has to be afraid of sending monsters after me right now. It's waiting for when I let my guard down before it sics monsters on me. Heh. I know how this place works.

I'm not gonna be that girl that says, "Oh no, I'm definitely not gonna let my guard down in the middle of this dangerous place." I'm sure some of the more experienced adventurers really never let their guard down, but not me. I can't maintain focus on one task for more than a few minutes at a time, so I might be thinking that I'm prepared for a monster ambush right now, because I am, but a few minutes from now? No, not gonna happen. That's when the Dungeon's gonna strike, and I'm gonna panic like hell again.

Knowing that, the right thing to do in that situation is not panic. When I let down my guard, I have to acknowledge that I'm letting down my guard, like I'm inviting the Dungeon to attack me. I'll immediately go on guard again, prepared for anything.

Huh? Something feels like it grabbed my leg?

!

I trip. No, something pulled out my leg from under me and I fall on my torch arm…

Fuck!

I let go of the torch and push myself off the flame on reflex, rolling to my left. I don't wait to see who did this to me before kicking out my leg and hitting whatever's there. I jump up and check myself for any flames- none. I sure lucked out there.

I look down. Goblins - a big group of them this time - maybe eight or nine or so! With no hesitation, I draw out my longsword and immediately cleave the goblin right in front of me. The goblins are moving frantically trying to surround me, but I don't wait for them to finish. I immediately head right and swing to my left; slashing the closest one to me, vaporizing it instantly. Another goblin is trying to brake in front of me, obviously not expecting me to make it over to its position that fast. Too slow! I swing back, knocking it to the ground. I stab it while it's there just to be safe.

The rest of the goblins don't wait this time. Rather than come at me one at a time, they advance as a group. I need to thin them out fast. I take hold of the knife on my left leg and immediately throw it into the group. I don't bother checking to see if it hit anything as I'm already revving up my next swing. I slash the first goblin to reach striking distance - it never had the chance of closing in on me, just how I like it.

My sword can't be everywhere at once, though. Three to my right, one more to the left. The goblin on my left starts charging; instead of trying to slash it with my sword, I accept its challenge head on. I make sure my left side is facing directly towards it and kick off with both of my feet. My shoulder makes great contact with its face. I fall down, taking it with me.

The remaining goblins rush over, thinking I'm in a vulnerable position. But they're simple-minded and reckless! I can see that they're all going to try to strike me in the position I'm currently, not bothering to think about what would happen if I dodged out of the way.

They fell for it!

I roll to my right, grabbing the goblin I pinned down and place on top of me, making a makeshift shield between me and my attackers. Their claws rip into its stomach and its poor owner starts screaming. The others take a step back as if in shock.

I push the goblin off of me and kick up my sword on the ground into my hands. I catch it by the blade, hilt facing forwards. Guess it's time to use it as a club.

Gripping the blade loosely, I step forwards towards one of the goblins and swing the sword's guard at it. The guard penetrates deep into its skull, and I struggle a little bit taking it back out.

Huh?

One of them is in the air and rapidly descending. I move my two arms to ensure that the point of the blade meets the goblin. The mass crashes down my blade and gets impaled. For a second I see my reflection in its eyes, then I feel a sharp pain on the top left part of my face.

Aaaggh!

I immediately drop the sword, goblin included, and raise both hands to that area, pushing heavily. Damn! That really hurts! I take a few steps back then open my eyes. The last two are still running towards me.

I can't think of anything else. It's now do-or-die. These guys are now officially on my shit list.

The goblin on my right begins to extend its right arm to punch me. I step back once and grab its arm. I can feel it try to pull away from by grasp but my grip is firm. I pull my arms to my lower left, dragging it with me. I immediately bring it to my other side, intercepting a strike from the last goblin. I let the goblin go and curl my right hand into a fist. One step forward…

"Eat this, asshole!"

And a clean punch to its head, staggering it!

The other goblin stumbles back up to my right, I jab my elbow into its neck in response. One punch from my left arm leaves it sprawled on the ground. I repeat the elbow jab with the other other goblin. Before it gets the chance to react, I grab its head with both of my hands and twist.

Snap!

My gaze turns back towards the goblin on the ground. I run up to it and kick it in its side. I do it again. I start getting into it.

"Die! Die! DIE!"

One. Two. Three. Four. This time, I aim for its head. Its neck bends in a way that looks unpleasant, to say the least.

Where's my sword?

I look left. The one that took a swipe at my face is still conscious. Not for long! I charge it, left elbow behind my back. Right as I pass it, I extend my arm, making extra sure my fist passes straight through its face. A bit dramatic, but the asshole deserves it.

I check behind me, making sure none are left. A smile creeps across my face.

"Yeah? How did you like that?" I ask nobody in particular.

Danger over, the pain in my head comes back. I clutch it with both of my hands.

Is this what adventurers feel like?

Through my gloves, my hand feels like its getting soaked. I take my right hand off and look at it. My glove is stained red, with fresh blood pouring off of it.

Tsk. I've heard from Mineme that wounds to the head make you bleed a lot, but I didn't know it was this excessive. Whatever, I'll just hold my hands there and hope it curbs the bleeding a little bit.

So, a real battle for once, no ambushes or cheap tricks anywhere. Well, at least not from me. What a pain. I don't like feeling like I'm in danger; I have to be the one in control of the situation one hundred percent of the time.

Still, I can't say I dislike this feeling of adrenaline pumping through my blood. I can hear my heart beating in my ears. Ba-dump! Ba-thump! Heheh. It's certainly not a terrible thing.

Maybe I should intentionally get myself stuck in these do-or-die situations for fun?

Nah. I mentally kick myself for thinking like that. If I'm not careful, I'll actually end up dying because I'm trying to fuel my adrenaline junkie ass.

I pick up my sword and dagger as I decide what to do next. Should I keep on going or return home and treat my wounds? On one hand, I literally just started exploring this place, and I'm actually feeling pretty good about it. On the other, I'm bleeding and should probably get it checked out.

It's probably nothing to worry about. I unclip one of my cocktails from my belt and set it on the ground. I remove the rag from the bottle and unfold it into a square. I bring my knife to it and cut a strip off of it lengthwise. This should do. I wrap the strip around my head tighten it, making sure the thing is secured with a knot on the back of my head.

I just made a headband with my own two hands. I should really look into weaving. I think fashion is interesting, adventurer fashion especially. Balancing looks and style with practicality. It's quite a skill to make sure you're outfitted in something that's nice to wear and nice to the eye. Some people might say that caring about how your outfit looks is a waste of time, but in my opinion, feeling good about your appearance lets you feel good about your abilities. That's my thoughts on that anyways.

Wait, what am I thinking? I shouldn't be thinking about fashion in the middle of a dungeon. I've got some exploring to do!

Where's my torch?

Ah there. Still on fire, just how I like it.

Oh, don't forget about the bottle. Put the rest of the rag back in. Clip it back on. There. Time to get the torch.

…

I look back at the way I came. I turn away from it. I'm only moving forward now.

Yeah, so much for my original plan of taking it nice and slow. I want to go down to the Seventh!

* * *

I don't know how long I've been down here in the Upper Floors. Maybe a few hours? I'm on Floor Six, and nothing I couldn't handle has shown up to kill me. If I couldn't handle them, I'd be dead. I take that as a sign that I'm good to keep moving forward.

I can't help but notice the smell I made. Burnt Killer Ant. I look behind at the flaming mess I made. I'd say I've gotten used to fighting Upper Floor monsters, but these monsters in these deeper levels are something else entirely. I'm pretty sure I could take them on with my current abilities, but the size of the monster groups is actually starting to get a little overbearing. I'm very glad I bought backup cocktails, and I'm also very glad that I'm gonna walk away with a backpack full of stones from Floor Six!

I feel down my right hip for any more cocktails. Nothing. I've used up my entire supply of firebombs.

…

I didn't actually think about how I was going to make it back up without my cocktails. When I removed those last cocktails from my backpack, I thought I was going to use them going back up, but I used them to chase down a bigass group of ants instead. Where most people would see danger, I saw money.

Now I'm down here with no cocktails, and no way to easily get back up. Great job me.

I'm sure I'll be fine though.

I hear distinctly insectoid footsteps from behind me. Oh great, right on cue. I turn my head to investigate. Giant beady eyes and antennae signify a small group of killer ants. I think they must have gotten away from my cocktail party.

Think!

They seem to easily ignite, so I think I'm actually gonna try to use my torch as my primary weapon. That seems like an okay idea. I "sheath" my longsword in the space between my back and backpack and switch my torch into my right hand, drawing my knife with my left. Backup.

I'm not gonna wait for them to close in on me. This time, I'll go on the offensive.

Getting closer…

Now! An ant's head is large enough that I feel comfortable taking a whack at its head.

No fire. Okay, maybe I need to rethink my strategy of setting all these bugs on fire.

Woah!

That thing almost chomped my hand clean off! No! Bad!

One eye of this giant ant is now making in contact with my knife's blade. Stupid asshole. I recall proper monster ignition technique from my runin with goblins a few days ago and jam the flame on my torch into its head for a solid second. I withdraw my knife and jump away, marvelling at how effective it worked.

One ant to my left, coming straight at me. Too slow! I dodge out of the way of its pincers and bring my torch to the back of its neck… thing. Toasty.

However, it's not enough. The damn thing is on fire and it still turns around to try and eat me! I have to duck to evade its bite and stab my knife through the bottom of its head.

I rush out of there as quickly as I can, extra mindful of the fire on its head, which now that I'm looking at it, is spreading too slowly for my comfort. These bugs can put up a fight!

More ants behind me! Not a big group, but I'd much rather not deal with them right now!

Gonna have to switch up my strategy. I drop my torch and sheathe my knife. Time to bring out the big sword.

I point it directly at the closest one to me. I'm gonna wait for it to get closer… closer.. Now lunge!

My blade going straight into its body, this ant vaporizes instantly. That's more like it.

I still have to deal with the rest of the ants though. Not a problem. I assume guard stance for the coming battle.

Footsteps to my left. What's there? I turn to look but I see nothing.

There's a sound of blade cutting through chitin from right behind me. I turn the other way and see a sword glisten against the green backdrop of the dungeon walls. Next thing I notice is the unmistakable sight of a monster turning into dust.

I'm drawn to the wielder of this sword. A person cloaked in black. First impressions of the sword give me a sort of Eastern vibe…

"Behind you!"

Huh?

I turn around. The ants are rushing me. Not a problem. Down! Right! Move out of the way, aaaaand parry!

Taking them on one at a time, these ants aren't too bad… Giant groups can get a little hairy though.

A few ants are remaining. I charge towards them, stabbing them with my longsword before they get in range of me.

The last one, obviously not too bright, being an ant and all, charges at me like the rest of them. Dispatched just as easily.

…

Who was that person?

Wait, where is he?

The person from before is gone.

I'm not going crazy am I?

No, there definitely was a person there! That guy killed an ant that managed to sneak up behind me, saving my life!

So where is he? Why would he just run off like that?

…

There's only one possible explanation…

"You okay?"

"AAAAAHH!"

I turned around and right in front of my eyes, the only thing I'm able to see is a pair of crimson eyes. I jump back out of shock.

"What the hell? Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"O-oh… Sorry. I did tell you to check behind you."

Black hood and robe. She's also shorter than me. I check her weapon, attached to her hips. Eastern sword. Two of them actually. Is this the person who saved me?

"Oh, was that you? You saved me right? Sorry, you just scared me. You kind of like, vanished after I finished up those ants."

"Why are you down here?"

"Huh?"

"Why are you down here?" she repeats herself. Further clarifying with, "-On the Sixth Floor by yourself?"

I heard you the first time…

"I just wanted to get some experience down here," I try to explain. "I'm a new adventurer, so-"

"If you're new, you shouldn't be down here," she interrupts.

"But I got perm-"

"One new adventurer going further down is asking for a death sentence."

Grr. You think I don't know that?

"Well, I was just testing the waters-"

She gets on her knees and bows, pressing her face against the floor.

"So please let me join you!"

Huh? Wait, what is she doing? Did she just ask to join my party?

"Excuse me?"

"..."

"Um, this is really sudden."

"Please! Just for today!"

Why does she sound so desperate?

"I've been stuck down here for the past day! I just want to go back up!"

Her voice is starting to crack. I bet there are tears rolling down her eyes. What am I supposed to say? Yeah, sure, let's be best friends forever. I'll always help you out! This girl is the definition of sketchy. Wait, something she just said…

"Did you say past day?"

"...Yes."

Wow. I- I don't even know what to make of that. This girl has been down here for an entire day?

Or maybe I'm misinterpreting it. Maybe she's been down here for only a few hours at most and she just thinks she's been down here for an entire day.

Or maybe she's lying, and she's just trying to trick me so she can mug me and leave me for dead.

I'm gonna have to say no to this. I'm getting red flags here.

"Hey, look, that's rough and all, but we just met, you know? Look, what I'm trying to say… "

Oh no. I can't keep going with this rejection. There's nowhere for me to run to. She can just follow me if I tried.

"Please! I'm telling the truth here! My party left me for dead!"

How sad. Still getting red flags.

"... Um, why would they do that?"

"..."

"..."

"Uuuuu~"

"Hey, just answer the question already."

What the heck's with this girl?

"Well, I actually just got separated from them when we got attacked by a bunch of War Shades."

"... So you ran away?"

"I'm pretty sure they're all dead."

Woah woah! This just jumped up from sad to, well, a different version of sad! Way to dial up the intensity! Jeez.

She looks up at me, pleading with teary, little puppy dog eyes.

"I'm stranded here without them! Please let me join you! You're the first person I've seen all day!"

"Hey, hey. Just a minute ago you were saying I was stupid for coming all the way down here as a newbie."

"I didn't say you were stupid! Just that doing that was stupid."

"What's the difference?"

"..."

I mean, I suppose having one extra pair of hands to get back out is better than zero extra hands and no cocktails.

"...Okay. Fine, you can join me."

She jumps up at me and wraps her arms around my chest. The movement was so sudden and the force she applied so much, the air gets knocked out of my lungs.

"-Eergh-"

"Really? Yay!"

A total 180 from the girl that was crying on the floor a few seconds ago. I'm getting serious bad vibes from her.

Letting go, she takes a step back and extends out her hand.

"I'm Thalia. Level one rogue!"

I try to shake her hand but she pulls away at the last second. She apologizes.

"Oh, I forgot about my hood."

She pulls her hood behind her, exposing black hair wrapped in a ponytail and cat ears. She repeats her name with a wide smile, baring two prominent fangs. A black cat. I feel unlucky just looking at her.

She repeats her name. "Yeah. Thalia."

I try again to shake her hand, more successful this time.

"Rei. Level one… adventurer. I use a longsword I guess?"

"Okay, it's settled! I'll help you pick up all these magic stones on the ground, then we'll be off!"

I'm almost certain she's trying to steal from me.

"Wait, these are my magic stones."

"I know, I know. I watched you kill all those ants. That fire magic of yours sure is something! I'm quite impressed myself"

"Yeah, yeah, just give it all to me."

Wait, how does she know about the cocktails? She shouldn't know about them if she only showed up during that last fight."

"How do you know about that? About the fire?"

"Are you kidding? How do you think I found you? You can't just ignore the smell of a ton of giant burning ants. I could smell that from the other side of the floor, you know."

O-oh right. I should have known she could smell all that horrid crap. I kind of got used to the smell of burning monsters, so I guess I just didn't notice it.

Maybe I'm being too paranoid?

Wait, what's even there to be paranoid about? So what if she knows about the cocktails? I just use it as another limited-use weapon, that's all.

I can hear her humming as she walks over to the far side of the room to pick up the stones over there.

I'm sure I can just ignore this feeling for now.

* * *

"Hey, what's with that rag on your head?"

Thalia finally asked me about my 'headband'. I forgot about it myself until she bought it back up.

"Oh, that? I got ambushed by some monsters on the Second or Third Floor and I hit my head or something. No big deal."

"Even with that, you still managed to make it down to the Sixth."

I shrug. I don't have a good come-up for that. Talking to another person about it made me realize that, yeah, my decision was pretty dumb. But I did come down here intending to make it all the way down to the Seventh, and if I do nothing else, I at least get my goals done.

I mean, I didn't make it to the Seventh, but I got pretty close, and it's the thought that counts.

We continue walking in silence to find the way back up. It gives me time to think about what I'm really here for, as an adventurer in Orario.

Is it really just fame and money?

Well, yes.

That actually bothers me a lot. The stories I grew up with - the stories of honest, hard-working heroes - they usually have a selfless reason for going out and doing their thing. Maybe they want to help out their starving village.

Or maybe the village was starving or just flat-out destroyed by the villain. In that case, it would be a selfish reason to go out on a quest to exact revenge. But at least revenge is a valid reason.

Where does greed fit into that? Is that really a valid reason to risk my life every day, where one mistake and my body is potentially going to be lost in the Dungeon forever?

When I die, I require, at the very least, a parade in my honor.

…

I think the answer to that is that it's not the only reason. There's got to be some deeper reason that even I'm not aware of that caused me to go agree to go back here after the disaster two days ago. If fame and money were the spark, there has to be a fuel.

Like how my torch is the spark and alcohol is the fuel for my cocktails.

Wait, did I forget my torch back on Floor Six?

Crap.

Oh well, it's useless now that I don't have any cocktails left. It's still cold here though, and a torch would have been helpful.

Ah, a good idea would be to make some small talk with Thalia. Maybe ask her why she's an adventurer. That might clear up some of my thoughts.

"Hey Thalia?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm just curious, why did you become an adventurer?"

Thalia stops walking for one second before answering my question. She turns to me with a smile.

"Money."

Oh god damn it. That's NOT the kind of response I was looking for.

I decide to answer truthfully about my reason too.

"O-oh, really? That's my reason for becoming an adventurer too. I thought it would be a fun job."

"It is, isn't it? I love coming down here to kill some monsters every now and then. I just wish this place wasn't so gosh dang dreary all of the time."

"You can say that again."

Well that doesn't clear up anything at all. If anything, that just affirms that my reason is a perfectly valid one. And I don't like that.

See, I also want fame out of this. Money's important, but recognition is too. To be regarded as a hero and to never be forgotten even when I die. And I can't do that if I don't have a sob story or selfless ambitions. I have neither. I mean, I'm sure there are some examples of heroes that are total assholes, but I don't want to be seen as one of them! That's embarrassing!

"Wait."

Thalia gestures me to stop. I oblige.

"Monsters."

I hear monster sounds.

That's not very descriptive, is it?

Ahead of us are a gigantic goblins and kobolds. It looks like they're fighting? Some sort of territorial dispute, maybe? All I know for sure is that it is truly a massive group that I don't want to deal with.

"Hey, Thalia, I think we should just go around them."

"No, I got this."

Thalia puts on a devious smile and unsheathes her two swords. She rushes forward ahead of me.

"Hey, wait!"

Dumbass is charging straight into a monster fight! Oh well, I'll humor her and let her handle this. At least I'll be able to see what she's capable of.

Thalia approaches the group, dashing left and right, like a lightning bolt. Once she gets close, she crosses her blades and jumps right through a goblin, decapitating it.

As soon as she does it, the monsters stop fighting and look at the adventurer ruining their fun. They all rush her.

Landing on her two feet, she jumps back into the action, swinging her left and right swords in a flurry, too fast to keep up with. Goblin and kobold limbs start flying through the air. A few seconds of this, and she bends over slightly, putting both hands on her knees and panting heavily. She looks at me and gives a thumbs up.

"How did you like that?"

A horde of angry monsters is hot on her tail. She didn't even come close to finishing the job.

"Behind you!"

"Huh?"

A goblin took that opportunity to line up a solid punch. She turned around just in time to get smacked in the face and gets sent flying all the way back to me. She lands on her back right next to my feet.

"...! Thalia!"

"-Uuuuuu-"

I bend over and shake her, trying to get her up.

"Hey, there are more monsters there! Come on, I'll help you this time!"

"It huuuurts~"

"You just got punched in the face, of course it hurts! What kind of adventurer are you if you can't take a few hits!?"

She's still refusing to move.

There's no time to waste anymore. The monsters have already caught up to us. I take out my longsword and assume battle stance.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Block. Counter. Slash. Slash again. Lunge and stab!

From my left, I spot a kobold trying to bite down on me. I grab the blade of my sword with one hand and bring the middle of the blade in between me and its mouth.

_Clang!_

The sound reverberates through my ears. The kobold looks disoriented after having bitten down solid steel. However, it's still biting down on my blade, and I attempt to dislodge it by swinging my body to my left, then to my right. On that swing, the kobold relents and gets sent flying into a pack of goblins, knocking them over.

The goblins quickly get up and turn away from me, their attention now fixed on the kobold I threw into them. They start angrily hacking away at it, kicking it while it's down.

In between my brief duels with goblins and kobolds in succession, I'm able to see a group of kobolds trying to reach their kind getting ganged up on by the goblins.

After a while, my fights stop being a sequence of consecutive duels and turn into more of a brawl. The goblins and kobolds started fighting amongst themselves again. The endless onslaught of monsters starts thinning out, and I can take a breather every couple of seconds.

Now it's every goblin and kobold for himself, with me stuck in the middle of this mosh pit. Not happening.

I spot Thalia out of the corner of my eye, finally standing up.

"Agh! You're too loud!" she screams.

"Thalia!"

"Rei!"

I swing my sword in a wide arc, cleaving my way through a small group of kobolds and goblins having at it. I jump out and land in front of Thalia. I think my expression is less than thrilled.

"We're getting the hell out of here."

"Okaaay…"

I grab her arm and drag her with me, away from the group.

After finally putting some distance between us and the brawl, I finally ask her what was going on there.

"Was that some sort of monster fight? I've never seen anything like that. I didn't even know monsters could fight each other!"

"Neither did I!"

"What is going on?"

"That was so cool!"

If I could see stars in eyes, Thalia's would definitely be shining with excitement right now.

"R-right."

"Why do you think they were fighting?"

"How should I know?"

That's not to say I didn't think that encounter wasn't weird, or cool even. I just want to go home. I don't want to think about stuff like this.

But why were they fighting? A few monsters encroaching on another's territory shouldn't lead to an all-out brawl in the Dungeon, especially considering that as far as I know, all the Dungeon wants is us dead. It's very strange indeed.

Is this what is called an Irregular? I think I heard Fisk say something about them before. That strange events can happen in the Dungeon and can and will destroy any previously laid out plans. They can prove to be a dangerous threat to adventurers.

Nah, that wasn't an Irregular. I'm thinking too hard about this. Unexpected and unfortunate that it happened to us? Sure. But I don't think I would classify that as an Irregular. I thought they were something weirder than a bunch of monsters fighting each other. Like if an entire upper floor got flooded with monsters from way deep in the Dungeon because somebody herded all of them up, or if an Adventurer tunneled his way down into the depths and the Dungeon threw a high-level monster after him that killed everything in its path. You know, that sort of gruesome stuff. What I just witnessed was nothing more than a monster bar fight.

Wait, there was absolutely no reason at all for us to even be there. I begin to lash out at Thalia.

"Hey, what the hell were you thinking!? You saw how many monsters there were!"

Thalia looks pleased with herself.

"Ah, but you said you wanted to get out of here right? Well, they were blocking the fastest way back up. Check this out."

She gestures towards the wall. Hey, this corridor does looks familiar.

"I think we're almost out of here," she explains.

The stairs leading up to the Second Floor. From there, it's smooth sailing. I'm still pissed though. For all I know, her real reason for doing something so stupid was trying to get me killed.

"Tsk. Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

* * *

The streets of Central Orario are filled with starlight.

Thalia gazes up at the night sky, clear of any clouds.

"Wow. The stars are really pretty today."

If what she said before about being stuck in the Dungeon for a day are true, then she probably fully expected to never see the sky ever again. With that in mind, I can't help but feel happy about her.

I still totally doubt that she was telling the truth though.

Now that we're out of the Dungeon, I can brush this incident off as a one-off and pretend it never happened. I only see problems happening if I decide to stick around. I start walking away without even looking at her.

"Well, I'm off. It was nice getting to meet you."

Thalia interrupts me, however.

"Hey, where are you going? We just got out of the Dungeon!"

I turn and look at her to respond.

"Home. I'm pretty tired. Ready to call it a night, to be honest."

Thalia starts pouting, protesting my decision to ditch her.

"Aw, come on! You're an adventurer! It's tradition around here to hit up a pub and get wasted after a successful expedition!"

Successful? We didn't coordinate an expedition at all. My mission got stopped halfway because I ran out of supplies. And you presumably almost died!

Before I can respond with my thoughts, Thalia interrupts me.

"I know what you're thinking. 'Oh, we almost died, how is that successful?' Well, it's successful because we didn't die! And that is good enough to celebrate!"

"Do you go out drinking every single day?"

"Of course not! I only do that every other day. One rest day in between to recover."

Am I dealing with an alcoholic here? This is ridiculous.

"Besides-" She continues. "- You saved me life this time. For that, dinner's on me for tonight!"

Free food? Count me in. I have low standards when it comes to bribes, and I'm not ashamed to admit that.

"You have my attention."

Thalia looks quite pleased with herself.

"Aaaah, if there is one thing that binds strangers together, it is free food. Come on, I know a great pub just for the occasion!"

* * *

"Hibachitei, the Flaming Wasp!"

We are standing outside what looks like a bar in a dark alleyway, just off of South Main. My first impressions aren't great, given its sketchy location, and I guess it must have shown on my face. Thalia tries to explain herself.

"This place is famous for its mead. But, if you're not interested in drinking, that's totally fine! It's actually pretty cozy inside and the food's alright too."

I have to say that I'm pretty skeptical of this whole thing. I actually did get a little bit scared when she made us turn off the lively main street into a dingy and abandoned back alley. I just have a hard time believing that. Then again, I suppose adventurers are used to these run-down conditions. Being one of them now, I guess I just have to accept my lot in life. There's quite a bit I don't know about day-to-day life here in Orario, and having _anyone_ show me the ropes around here should be helpful. Even if my guide is a crazy cat lady.

"If you say so."

Opening the door, I get a good view of the inside. The interior reflects the entrance, cramped, dark, and dirty. Too many rough-looking people for comfort. I can't say I like it at first glance.

"So, whaddya think?"

"Well, I can't say I've ever been in a place like this before."

Thalia pats me on the back.

"You survived the Dungeon, you can survive a real high-class adventurer tavern! Come on, I know what's good here."

We're escorted to a table off in a corner on the far side and given a menu. Before taking a look at it, I scan the room for the types of food other people are having. I see steaks, elegantly cut into thin strips, served with cooked herbs. Hearty soups filled to the brim with meat, carrots, potatoes, and other vegetables. It all looks rather fancy compared to the endless stream of potato snacks that my Goddess and I have been subsiding on for the past week. I almost feel bad for having Thalia pay for me.

"Thalia, is it really okay if you pay for me? I mean, I can pay for myself, you know."

"Oh please. Consider this a gift from me to you for saving my life. Besides, if you're that concerned over your money, you've already paid."

With a wide smile, she turns her head towards one side and winks at me.

"If you know what I'm saying."

Did she steal some of my magic stones? I mean, I guess I can't blame her for pocketing some of them after our fight with the ants, but I gave her explicit instructions to give me every single one!

Maybe I was being too harsh…

Changing the subject, I ask her what's good here.

"I'm partial to their fish, myself. I'm very particular about my seafood, and this place is the only place I've found so far that can serve a good fish dish. Oh man, that last line was good. Fish dish. Gotta keep that one in mind."

I can't say I'm in the mood for seafood right now. Seeing as it is my first time in a tavern like this, I decide to wait for a waitress to come and take our orders and ask for her advice. Eventually, a prum girl comes over to us, our waitress, and I ask her. She recommends me to try out the ham steak.

Turning to Thalia, she asks for her order.

"I'll have a fried fish and a steak with extra spices!"

After scribbling down the order, she then asks us for drinks.

Thalia answers first.

"I'll have the red mead, please!"

Thalia turns to me.

"You have some too. This stuff's really good, trust me."

I nod to the waitress, who then repeats our orders before scurrying off to take more from other tables.

Having a minute to relax, I try to take in the atmosphere for the bar. Other adventurers of all races are chatting each other up, having a good time after a hard day of work. It is nearly impossible to keep up with any conversation, as every word from inside the bar gets blended together. Not that I was trying to eavesdrop on anyone or anything.

I examine the other patrons. A lot of them look like adventurers, and some are still decked out full armor. My eyes get drawn to a group that just walked in, all wearing identical black uniforms. I notice a badge on their shirts that looks like an insignia of some kind. A Familia emblem? Possibly.

"Two mugs of red mead. Your food should be arriving shortly."

Our waitresses's abrupt delivery of our drinks bring me back to reality. I bring my mug closer to me and stare at the liquid inside. It looks more like wine than ale, but I'm sure it tastes good if this is the bar's claim to fame.

Thalia extends her arm raises her mug. I do the same, bringing the two mugs together.

"Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

Silence broken, we join the orchestra of voices in the tavern.

Thalia immediately starts gulping down her drink. I hesitate a little before slowly lifting the mug up to my lips. One sip and my face contorts.

"Ack!"

Tastes just like every other crappy spirit I've ever had.

"Ah!"

Thalia, done with her drink, at least for now, slams the mug back down on the table, a content smile on her face.

"That hits the spot! So, how did you like it? The world famous Hibachitei mead?"

"I'm not much of an alcohol girl, myself. I don't know. It tastes just like any other drink I've had."

"Well if you don't want it, I'll take it!"

I don't want to give it to her. Mainly because I'm afraid that I'm missing something, and I really want to give this mead a chance.

"No way," I reply, "Get a refill if you want another."

Turning off my inhibition for a few seconds, I bring the mug to my mouth and gulp down as much as I can. The taste of alcohol is overpowering, but a very sweet aftertaste of fruits is left behind. My stomach feels significantly warmer after that. That was actually quite pleasant after getting over the initial shock of drinking mead.

I know, it sounds hypocritical that I'm afraid of drinking alcohol when I use it as an actual weapon in combat. But I just generally dislike the taste of the cheap beer my parents had. That's why I didn't feel bad about trying to set some of that stuff on fire one night. The rest is history.

Still, even I can appreciate this taste. Complex, but not muddled, and a sweet taste of victory after the initial hurdle. A metaphor for adventure in general.

Damn, that got really deep. I'm impressed, to say the least. I still want to save face in front of Thalia though.

"Okay, I change my mind. It's alright."

Thalia's smile grows even wider.

"Heehee! I knew you would like it! Everyone does, after all."

I take another swig from my mug, and Thalia does the same.

The lingering doubt in my mind about her is still strong, and I have to ask about her real reason for offering me dinner.

Wiping her mouth with her sleeve, she replies.

"I already said why, remember? You helped me out, so I want to give you a tour around town."

"But all you did was lead me here."

"Are you treating me like a one-night fling? I thought you had more class than that!"

A one-night fling? Don't tell me she was serious about joining my party. Plus, she doesn't know anything about me other than my name. Why is she trying so hard to get on my good side? Actually, wait, why's she hanging out with me right now? Didn't she go into the Dungeon with a party and the rest of them get slaughtered? I have to bring this up.

"Hey Thalia, shouldn't you be telling your Familia about where you are? I'm sure they must be worried sick about your party."

"Oh pffffffft. I can tell them later. It doesn't matter. Right now, all that matters is getting drunk and merry!"

"Didn't you say your party was dead?"

"Eh, I guess I did say that."

A couple of seconds pass. I can't really think of anything else to say. I know I should probably press her on for some more information. Before I can ask anything, she continues.

"Relax! _I_ am not dead, and that's all that matters. Besides, I didn't say my party was _actually_ dead. Just that I think they're dead. I didn't see them all die. Big difference! I think just for that, we should enjoy ourselves here! Hey, that's enough about me, what's up with you?"

Huh? Me? I suppose it's about time I gave her some information about myself, but I don't really have anything worth sharing about.

"If you want the full list, my name is Rei, new level one adventurer in Orario. I'm broke and looking for money and I fight monsters with a longsword. That's about it."

Thalia looks less than thrilled about my answer.

"What? That's it? No interesting sob story? You're selling yourself short!"

"I don't think I'm as interesting as you think I am. I like money and beating up monsters and that's about it."

I live a simple life. I do my job and get paid at the end of the day so I can spend it on whatever I feel like later. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Deviating from that plan just because I'm in Orario doesn't strike me the right way.

"Nothing wrong with that," Thalia says, as if reading my mind. "I like the simple stuff in life too. Wanna make it official? We join up as a party and stake out the Dungeon for those sweet, sweet monster drops."

There it is. I knew the question of partying up was eventually going to show itself sooner or later with her. I don't see any reason to say no. I still don't think I can trust her, but she hasn't done anything bad to me directly. That said, we've known each other for an extremely short amount of time, so there hasn't been much of an opportunity for her to do so.

With that in mind, I have to shake my head. I smile to make the rejection easier. For me or for her, I'm not sure.

"I'm sorry, but this is just a really sudden request and we don't really know each other yet. I'll think about your offer though."

Thalia closes her eyes and smiles, as if content with my answer.

"Understandable. I know that it's hard to trust a stranger you just met after all."

She read right through me!

"Oh no, that's not what I meant!"

She shakes her head, telling me off from continuing.

"No, it's okay. It's actually very good that you don't trust me. It means that you're less likely to get scammed by other people, you know?"

She puts on a smug grin and places her hand on her chest.

"After all, I'm the most trustworthy person I know!"

Nope. I disagree.

"I'd like to think that I trust everyone the same amount," I say, trying to justify myself. "After all, I don't know my way around here."

Thalia gives me an enthusiastic thumbs up.

"That's great! That's why I'm here! You can count on me to be your cool big sister!"

"Big sister?" I repeat back to her. I'm shocked at her statement. "You're shorter than I am!"

"Ah, but who's the cute young one here? That's right! You! You're the cutie!"

"Now you're just trying to flatter me…"

"Your food is here~" our waitress interrupts our little talk. In her left hand is a ham steak, her right is carrying fried fish. What's quite impressive is that she's balancing a plate of steak on her head. She places the two dishes in her hands in front of us. She then crouches and bounces back up, launching the plate and the food before catching the plate in her outstretched palm and moving it around to catch the falling food. It lands looking just as appetizing as before, with not a single item hitting the floor.

Thalia starts clapping. "That was so cool! Do it again!"

She looks smug about the whole thing. "If I drop it, you're paying for another dish."

With that, she turns around and lets us carry on.

"So how was that?" Thalia asks. "Hibachitei customer service at its greatest!"

"I'm impressed," I answer honestly. "The food looks great too."

"Ah, here." Thalia starts cutting her steak and places half of it on my plate.

"To celebrate our new party!"

"You say that like I agreed to let you join me."

Thalia grabs her mug with a big smile on her face and waves me off with her free hand.

"Eh, who cares about the formalities. It's time to eat up!"

Thalia raises her mug again. Seeing she wants another toast, I oblige once again.

"Fine. Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

As soon as our mugs meet, I hear a loud thump on the ground behind and people gasping.

Silence descends over the bar. I look where everyone seems to be looking- towards the center of the room. A prum is sprawling on the ground, with a spilled mug right next to his head. A red haired man, likely an adventurer, looks to have thrown it at the prum.

"My hand slipped."

A moment that feels like it lasts forever passes. The tension in the room feels like it's going to burst.

The group of adventurers with the black uniform all stand up at once and curse him.

"You son of a bitch!"

"Now you've done it!"

They kick down the table they were sitting at and rush the red-haired adventurer. The aftermath is the sound of broken dishes and the loud crash of the table and multiple chairs. A white-haired boy from behind the red-hair intercepts one of them and pins him to the ground.

Thalia bursts out in laughter.

"But this! This is the real reason why I love this bar so much! You don't get this kind of action at a cleaner place!"

A bar fight between adventurers. Something I thought was strictly fiction, but is happening right in front of me on my very first visit to a bar. Thalia takes a giant gulp out of her mug and starts chowing down on her fish, never once taking her eyes off the brawl. I offer my full attention to this out-of-reality fight that's happening before my eyes.

The rest of the bar's customers quickly get out of the way of the fighters. They're cheering on the adventurers, not caring who comes out on top.

There are four adventurers in the black uniforms standing up vs. the red-haired and white-haired boys. The red-haired one looks like he's used to this type of action, but the white-haired boy looks completely out of his depths.

Just based off of numbers alone, the men in black should be easily able to overpower their two opponents if they just chose to take them out one at a time. In fact, that's what they're doing.

The four of them seem like they're trying to focus their attacks on one target, but against all odds, the person they're targeting is easily able to fend off their attacks or dodge out of the way completely. While not exactly a life-or-death encounter, it looks like everyone involved is powered entirely off of their emotions. Most likely rage.

Seeing that this fight isn't going to be a one-sided stomp, the crowd erupts into more cheers and taunts. Thalia looks like she's having the time of her life.

"Ahahaha! Looks like those guys picked the wrong people to pick a fight with! Hey Rei, get this, I'm pretty sure those guys in black are fighting two higher level adventurers! That's hilarious!"

Higher level? The red-haired one I can understand, but the white-haired one looked so… unimposing. Too young and cute, almost like a bunny. There's no way he's a high level adventurer.

"Rei," Thalia continues. "Rei! Hahaha! We get to witness two high level adventurers beat up a group of low levels! This is why stats matter! Hey, check out the white-haired kid's moves." Thalia takes another swig from her mug.

On her suggestion, I look closely at the white-haired boy. The boy is weaving in and out of punches and kicks from four of his attackers at the same time. Not a single hit is landing on him. After a bit of this display of dexterity, he drops down to the floor and sweeps out one of his legs, hitting one of the attackers behind the knee and knocking him down to the floor.

"Wow," is the only sound that escapes my mouth. So this is what a level can do. I check back on the red-haired man. He's able to hold his own; each one of his punches sends his opponents flying through the air.

"Hey, wait. I think I know that kid."

"Huh, the white-haired one?"

No way. I'm not gonna believe some scrawny looking kid is famous.

"Yeah, he's actually quite famous around here. They say he's the fastest person to reach Level 2 in all of history. I think it was like one month or so since he signed up with the Guild? Very fast. Think his title is the 'Little Rookie.'"

I hear a loud shout.

"Kick his ass Little Rookie!"

As if confirming his fame. So Thalia was telling the truth. I look back at this 'Little Rookie.' How could one person level up in only a month? It took me _years_ to get to where I am, and I'm still only Level 1!

Coinciding with my rage, one last man in a black uniform stands up. He turns into a blur before reappearing, flipping the red-haired man flat on his back.

The crowd's cheers go even louder as the previously invincible duo gets shaken up by the appearance of this new contestant.

"Welf?!" the Little Rookie shouts. So that's the red-haired man's name. Powered by rage, the Little Rookie unleashes a barrage of punches at the newcomer, fast enough that I can't even see. What's even more incredible is that the newcomer seems to be dodging every single one with ease. Eventually, he counter attacks and grabs the Little Rookie in a chokehold.

The bar explodes with chatter about this upset.

"That's… Hyacinthus."

"He's Level Three, a second-tier adventurer?!"

Level 3? I thought the Little Rookie was incredible, but that means that if Hyacinthus is Level 3, then him absolutely embarrassing the Little Rookie right now must make him a level 2. A month right? Then he's just as green as I am!

Thalia, having recovered from her laughing fit, calmly says her thoughts on the matter.

"Oh man, never thought I'd see a Level 3 in a bar fight. This day just keeps getting better and better."

Suddenly, a table crashes right next to us. The perpetrator, an ash-colored werewolf man is still sitting on his chair.

"All of you wimps need to shut up."

The bar is dead silent.

"You've ruined my drink, so get lost."

I notice an emblem on his outfit, adorned with some sort of "Trickster" emblem.

Only now do I notice how silent the bar is.

Hyacinthus and the werewolf stare each other down. After a short while, the human breaks eye contact first.

"And you've ruined my mood." Turning towards the exit, he coldly sneers, "Let's go," as he makes his way out on his own.

With nothing but words, the werewolf won the brawl.

Just who is this man?

I turn to Thalia with questions.

"Hey Thalia? Who's this guy?"

She only says, "Let's go," before standing up herself and walking out the door.

I look around, making sure nobody's looking at me, before picking up my meal and following suit.

She's waiting just outside the door. We begin walking back towards South Main in silence. Suddenly, she speaks up.

"So, that was Loki Familia. The big shots around town. You don't want to mess with them."

"More names to remember."

"But important ones. Everyone in Orario knows who they are. Let me ask you this. What can possibly stop a bar fight? Don't answer that. The answer is a Level 6."

Loki Familia. I've heard stories from the Guild about their exploits. They're one of the strongest Familias in not only Orario, but the entire world, I'd wager. One single werewolf being able to evacuate a bar… now he commands some serious respect.

Well, the only thing I know about that werewolf is that he's a total hottie. Knowing he's Level 6 just makes it even better.

I take some of the ham on my plate with my fingers and bite off a bite-sized chunk.

"So how was it?" Thalia suddenly asked me.

"Hmm?"

"Your first visit to an honest adventurer's pub? Not bad if I do say so myself."

"Having dinner interrupted by a fight isn't exactly the greatest first impression."

"Well you certainly have some high standards. I can't blame ya. But this. This is the real life of an adventurer in Orario. It's not the monsters they kill or the places they explore. It's the stories they tell, and more importantly, the stories they make. I bet you, that every single adventurer in that bar has a story they want to make happen. What they fill the pages with, ohoho, now that, that, I'm always interested in. That's why I frequent these bars so much."

"You have an odd taste in restaurants if that's the case."

Thalia puts on a smug expression.

"What's wrong with wanting a little entertainment with your food?"

"Entertainment's dangerous."

She shrugs.

"Weeeell, that's not the only reason. I did say that I was gonna pay for you right?"

She did… Wait! We just bolted out of the door without even paying!

"Hey! Did you pay for our food?"

"Consider it as reimbursement for dangerous entertainment. Hahaha!"

We dined and dashed at my first ever visit to a bar.

"This has been an interesting day," I bitterly remark.

Thalia then claps her hands.

"Welp! That concludes today's guide. I am your host, Thalia, and I will see you next time!"

I roll my eyes at her expressive show.

Suddenly, she stops walking.

"Rei."

I turn and look at her. Her crimson eyes are filled with confidence, and I can tell for the first time this night that she's being sincere.

"You need a guide to show you around Orario. I can do that for you. I really do want to fill out the pages in your story. So please, please consider my offer."

She turns the other direction and starts walking. I can't say anything back to her, as my mind is filled with so many questions. I didn't even ask her what Familia she is in!

I stand there for a few seconds before she turns around again. "Oh, we can work out the finer details of our contract later!"

With that, she starts running off into the distance.

She's definitely a weird one. I'm still convinced that she's just trying to get me killed. Everything that happened today so far seems like it's been her fault. I'll talk with Fisk about her later.

But even besides that, today has just been awful hasn't it?

A chance encounter deep in the dungeon, weird monster behavior, and being stuck next to a bar fight to top it all off. It seems like there's a definite hierarchy of adventurers in this city too.

Those high level adventurers are pissing me off. They were moving at an incredible speed and had amazing strength. All things that I won't have in the foreseeable future. Even the hot Level 6 werewolf I was fantasizing about. He has an aura of authority that he gives off by simply existing!

With people like that in the world, where do chumps like me sit on the ladder?

I bite my lip in frustration.

It seems like there's more to adventuring than just beating up monsters. This learning curve is a lot more steep than I initially thought…

I look up at the night sky, gazing at the few stars I can see in between the city lights. While not as impressive as when I lived out in the countryside, it still fills me with awe. I wish I could join their ranks.

"What can I do?"

I lower my head back down and start walking aimlessly. I hope I'll find the inn eventually…


End file.
